OREANDA-NEWS. The European Commission recommended Ukraine to buy gas from Russia directly in the amount of about 15 billion cubic meters per year, reducing costly reverse supplies. This was reported to the Russian media on Tuesday by a source in EU institutions, close to the tripartite gas talks.

"The European Commission recommended that from 2020 return to direct purchases of Russian gas in the amount of about 15 billion cubic meters per year in order to reduce the cost of reverse purchases of the same gas", he said. The agency’s interlocutor explained that a return to direct procurement would increase Russia's interest in using the Ukrainian gas transportation system to pump gas to Europe, as well as reduce tension on the issue of gas tariffs. According to him, the Ukrainian side is trying to compensate for the additional costs that Kiev incurs in connection with the refusal of direct supplies by increasing tariffs for pumping Russian gas.

Earlier, the European Commission proposed holding the second technical meeting of experts from Russia, Ukraine and the EU on November 19 to prepare the next round of ministerial tripartite consultations on gas, due in late November. However, none of the parties confirmed the technical meeting.